Norton Healthcare has completed almost 350 spinal fusion surgeries using Medtronic's Mazor X robotic-assisted technology, with one surgeon saying the tech has the potential to "revolutionize the future," according to an Aug. 23 news release by the health system.
The health system, recently notching its 340th procedure of the kind, heralded the robotic-assisted tech in spine surgery as effective at reducing postsurgery pain, as it increases accuracy of screw placement in patients' spines and decreases incision size, Norton said.
The Mazor X also can shorten recovery time: On average, Norton Leatherman Spine patients who had single-level lumbar fusion surgery stayed inpatient for 3.5 days, while the robotic-assisted system has cut that down to an average of 1.5 days, according to the release.
"In the next 50 years, this is what’s going to change the face of spine surgery," Norton Leatherman Spine orthopedic surgeon Jeffrey Gum, MD, said in the release. "I’m excited to be a part of this movement."
Dr. Gum has performed upwards of 300 robotic-assisted surgeries since he began using the tech in 2016; in January 2019, he became one of the first surgeons to use the Mazor X Stealth Edition, the most recent model, in spine surgery, the release said.
Norton Healthcare serves patients in Kentucky, Greater Louisville and southern Indiana.